Nice to Meet You, Soul Mate
by Azrayah
Summary: Takeshi couldn't help but think that the shop employee was too cute; his fluffy hair, large eyes, and clumsy demeanor made being buried by Christmas decorations worth it. It was only a bonus that he was his soul mate as well! Submission for ilYamaTsuna7227li's 3rd Christmas Contest


Merry Christmas 8027 fans, a Christmas challenge by Yatsu!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own KHR.

**Notes:** Some kind of AU…not entirely sure what kind, but there's no mafia. The intro kinda seems like a run-on as well…hm…

Nice to Meet You, Soul Mate

When Takeshi Yamamoto was a child, he would listen to the tales spun from his mother. With her silky raven black hair and kind hazel eyes, she would sweetly tell him of many love filled stories as she tucked his little body into his bed. She seemed to have a treasure trove of stories locked within her head and etched onto her heart. Stories with princes and princesses, students and teachers, baristas and customers, and so many more scenarios were told almost every night.

She would always end her storytelling by slipping off the handmade bracelet he had made for her 29th birthday and showing him the bright intricate image of a sword wrapped in flowers. This image—a soul image, according to his mother—appears on the skin where one's soul mate first touches them, the image depicting whatever conditions they met under. Takeshi's mother would always recount different things that happened when she first received the image: the hot prickling sensation that rolled across her wrist, the spark that flashed through his father's eyes when they first caught a glimpse of one another. Each night a new detail was added to the tale that Takeshi could now recite by heart, and soon he was telling the tale along with his mother, happily filling in details when his mother "forgot" them.

Takeshi Yamamoto loved his mother dearly as a child.

* * *

The clear sky after the harsh storm of the previous day seemed ominous to the Yamamoto household, but the three ravens paid the sudden change in weather no heed. Instead of worrying about it, they focused their attention on celebrating Takeshi's fifth birthday—a joyous day indeed. Tsuyoshi and his wife had woken up early and decorated the house, lining the ceiling of their small apartment with colorful streamers. A freshly baked chocolate cake, Takeshi's favorite, sat on the stove, cooling enough for the handmade blue icing to stick properly to the dessert. The modest presents the couple had prepared sat pushed to the edge of the couch, a spot open for their child still resting in bed, completely oblivious to the party planning outside of his room.

"Tsuyoshi…" Said man looked over at his wife who was searching for something.

"Yes, dear?" He sat down the spatula he was using to prepare breakfast and walked over to her. "What are you looking for?"

She sighed and gently shut the drawer underneath the counter. "The lighter. You know, the one Mr. Sawada gave us a few months ago when he accidently ordered a few extras…." Pouting, she looked at her husband. "I even put the darn thing up in the kitchen because I was going to use it to light the candles on Take-kun's cake."

Tsuyoshi smiled warmly at her as he placed his arm around her shoulders. "It'll be fine. I can go to the convenience store a few blocks away and grab one."

"You can't leave the kitchen!" She softly exclaimed, scared to wake Takeshi up accidently, "I can't cook to save my life, so you have to make breakfast!" Slipping out of his arm around her shoulders, she walked towards the door that led down to the store. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes, promise!" Tsuyoshi watched her leave, a foreboding feeling settling in his stomach.

Ten minutes later, Tsuyoshi had breakfast set on the table and the cake laced with icing. He was about to set the cake out on the dining table, but a call from his phone stopped him. Quickly grabbing the phone, he glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was his wife calling. He answered swiftly, "Dear? Did they have a lighter?"

"Yeah, they did!" His wife answered through the phone, "It's really cute too! It has these little orange stars and a blue checkered pattern and—"

Tsuyoshi's heart dropped to the floor as a loud crash echoed through the receiver; he heard a thump before the line was cut. A sudden pain burned through the hand holding the phone, causing him to instinctively drop the phone and grasp his hand. Glancing at it, he gasped in horror, his mind screaming, _NO! _He dashed out of the store, the burning sensation that was flooding his hand now forgotten as his only focus was on finding his wife, his love, _his soul mate._

He tried to forget the diming sword embraced by flowers imprinted on the palm of his hand.

He had forgotten about Takeshi, who had stood at the bottom of the stairs the whole time, watching with confused eyes as his father ran out of the store. The little boy trotted over to the phone Tsuyoshi had uncharacteristically dropped onto the ground and held it to his ear, listening to the buzz of the dead line. Slowly, he waddled over to the counter and gently placed the phone on the counter before recognizing the decorations that hung throughout the house. This momentary joy was forgotten, however, as he remembered his father running out of the house.

"Daddy…?" Tilting his head, Takeshi jogged over to the entrance to the shop and gasped, the horrible sight etching itself in his memory forever.

The sight of his mother covered in blood and his father holding her close to him was too horrific that he couldn't understand what was going on. He saw the blood, the tears, the horrified observers, the fearful culprit, but none of the scene was computing in his head. He couldn't make sense of any of it. _Why was Mommy just laying on the road? Why is Daddy crying? Today is my birthday, a happy day, right? That's what Mommy always said…_

Takeshi made sense of it.

He cried.

* * *

Ever since the death of Mrs. Yamamoto, the Yamamoto household changed. The cheerfulness that once surrounded the house was replaced by despair and sadness. Both males loved the woman dearly, and her early departure from this world impacted the two greatly—Tsuyoshi especially. While Takeshi was horribly saddened from the loss of his mother, it was nothing compared to the devastation and physical pain that Tsuyoshi felt each day. With the connection to his soul mate now cut, Tsuyoshi's soul image was now a gray picture imprinted on his skin that seemed to mock him every time he caught a glimpse of it. He wrapped his palm every day, hiding the reminder and lessening the stinging he felt as he attempted to cope with his life alone.

Takeshi slowly gathered the pieces of his life together as well, his grieving taking less time than his father. While his father could barely take care of himself now, the little boy stepped up to the challenge and did his best to smile for Tsuyoshi. He slowly took over the little jobs that his mother used to do: washing the dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning up the apartment above the shop, tidying up the shop after customers. Takeshi did his best in the place of his mother.

The two lived like this for two years—Tsuyoshi barely coping enough to run the shop and Takeshi taking care of him behind the scenes—until finally one of Mrs. Yamamoto's closes friends had had enough.

Nana Sawada, a kind woman who lived a few roads away from them and Mrs. Yamamoto's closest friend, marched into TakeSushi and slapped Tsuyoshi across the face, a hand on her hip and a disappointed look on her face.

"Yamamoto-san!" She began, a frown etched onto her usually smiling face. "I know that Yama-chan's death impacted you—my pain definitely can't compare—but you need to get a grip! She'd be heartbroken to see you tear yourself up over her death! And have you forgotten about Takeshi-kun?! He needs his father! He's only seven!"

The mention of Takeshi, his only little boy, his only connection to his wife, made Tsuyoshi snap his head up and meet gazes with Nana. He searched her eyes for something unmentioned and then glanced at the boy at the bottom of the stairs. Takeshi's amber eyes met his father's brown, and the shop owner broke down into tears and cried, the overwhelming feelings taking him over.

Nana knelt down next to the man and gently rubbed his back, gesturing at Takeshi to come over. The seven year old trotted over to his sobbing father and watched, not knowing what to do since he's never seen his father this broken. The woman, understanding that the boy was clueless, grasped his hand and wrapped it around his father's shoulders. Takeshi then made sense of what to do and embraced his father, his own tears welling in his eyes; Tsuyoshi's larger arms instinctively wrapped around the boy's smaller frame.

Nana slowly stood up and backed away from the two, a warm smile on her face as she bowed to them then left. Others within the shop, being completely unnoticed by the three, slowly made their way out of the shop as well, either leaving the money for their food on the table or on the counter near the back of the shop.

Father and son never noticed any of them leaving, instead focusing on one another, attempting to mend their broken pieces back together.

* * *

Nine years had passed since the day Nana marched into TakeSushi and literally slapped some sense into Tsuyoshi, and the Yamamoto household has been doing much better than before. Real, warm smiles came to both males easier, despair wasn't following them wherever they went, and Takeshi felt like the two of them were almost repaired. While it was still hard for the two of them to hold celebrations such as birthdays and other holidays, Takeshi believed that this time, they could celebrate.

Christmas, a time of joy and bonding, was just around the corner, and Takeshi was determined to celebrate it this year. With a year's worth of allowance saved up and rehearsed conversations backing him, he trotted into the kitchen where his father was.

"Hey, Pops?" The teen began as he walked in.

Tsuyoshi turned his head to look at his son, his attention spilt between Takeshi and the breakfast he was cooking. "Yeah, son?"

Taking in a deep, unnoticed breath, Takeshi asked, "Can we set up the house and shop for Christmas?"

"Ah…" Tsuyoshi turned off the burner and served breakfast onto their respective plates, his mind still pondering an answer.

"I know what you may be thinking," the teen interrupted, "but I'll take care of it all myself. I'll buy the decorations, set them up, wrap up presents—the whole shebang!"

His father turned and looked at his son who was smiling sheepishly, and he thought, _What have I done? Christmas shouldn't be a question…_

"Son…" Walking over to Takeshi, he placed his hand on the teen's shoulder and nodded. "Yes—yeah, _we'll_ set up for Christmas." He smiled.

Takeshi mirrored his smile. "Thanks, Pops!" he hugged his father before grabbing his coat that he had placed in the kitchen beforehand. "I'll go get the decorations right now!" The teen ran out of the room.

"Wait, Takeshi!" his father called after him. "Breakfast!"

Takeshi was already out of the shop.

* * *

With a spring in his step, Takeshi made his way towards the mall, keeping his pace steady and watching for ice patches on the sidewalk. While the road had been salted in advanced, the sidewalks were just now beginning to melt, causing several spots to have ice and others to not.

As he made his way, turning whenever necessary, he greeted fellow neighbors that he passed, smiling and exchanging pleasantries. Takeshi couldn't help but feel like something good was going to happen today, and his actions reflected his happiness.

Finally arriving at the mall, he cringed as he looked at the crowd, wondering just how he was going to get to a nice Christmas shop without being knocked into others. He kept to the sides of the large mass of people, ready to bolt into a store when he found what he was looking for.

A few moments later, he found exactly what he was looking for—a little Christmas shop that seemed to be empty except for employees. Takeshi grinned as he walked in, so excited to look for decorations.

"Good morning!" The front clerk greeted as the teen walked in. "Welcome to the Clam Christmas Shop!"

"Ah, thank you!" Takeshi greeted back as he glanced around the shop. In the front of the shop there was a small display of an old, Italian style mansion being circled around by a toy train, Santa being the conductor of the train. Shelves stocked with miscellaneous items related to Christmas lined three of the four walls, the other wall being made of glass to allow those who passed by to gaze within the store.

Recounting how much money he had, Takeshi made his way down one of the three aisles. The aisle contained an assortment of lights, from multicolored strings of small bulbs to special light-up ornaments. The teen was stunned-he had never known so many different types of lights had existed. He continued to look at the lights, pondering what kind to get and where to put them. Deciding to come back to the lights, he excited out of the aisle and proceeded into the next one.

This aisle contained all kinds of trees and ornaments. Takeshi knew he needed to buy a tree first and foremost, and so he walked towards the section of the aisle where the trees were on display. He carefully looked the trees over, deciding that smaller might be better, considering the fact that he wasn't carrying a whole lot of money—although he had noticed that the prices of this shop were reasonable.

As he searched the different kinds of trees, an employee, different than the clerk upfront, stepped into the aisle. The employee—a male teen close to Takeshi's age—was delicately balancing boxes of ornaments in his hands. He slowly stepped past Takeshi and stopped in front of a slightly empty shelf. The other teen then began to restock the shelf. As he did this, Takeshi noticed that he seemed to have difficulty reaching the top shelf.

"Um, excuse me...?" Takeshi began as he took a step closer to the other. "Do you need some help with that?"

The employee jumped, startled by his words, and turned to look at Takeshi. "Oh, um, I...I've got it, thank you. I couldn't ask you for help..." The other then nudged his foot onto the bottom shelf and grasped another shelf, stretching as high as he could. "I've almost got it..."

Takeshi watched him, not entirely sure if the other teen could reach the shelf, when he noticed that the shelf was beginning to tip over. "Look out!"

"Wha...?" The employee seemed unsure why Takeshi had called out, but then he felt the shelf falling. "Ah!"

Takeshi leapt from his spot, his hands circling around the other's head and waist as he pulled him to his chest, shielding the employee from the onslaught of ornaments that rained down from the falling shelf. The two fell to the ground, Takeshi above the other as a burning sensation ran across his palm, causing him to grimace in pain.

A few moments passed, and the ornaments stopped falling on the two. The clerk upfront had heard the commotion and quickly ran into the aisle to check what was wrong. "Oh my gosh, are you two okay?! Here, let me help..." The clerk then began to brush the ornaments off of the two as Takeshi slowly removed his hands from their places on the other. Takeshi then rose above the employee he had saved, his hands placed next to the other's head and his knees next to his hips. He gazed down at the other, the removed ornaments allowing him to fully look at the other's face and catch a glimpse of his name tag.

_Tsunayoshi Sawada _it read. While a few cute nicknames suddenly popped into his head, his attention was focused on Tsunayoshi's face. He hadn't gotten a good look before—all of the ornaments were blocking his view—but now that he could fully see Tsunayoshi's face, he was speechless. His large chocolate doe eyes stared into his own amber; his cheeks slightly flushed pink-from what, Takeshi was unsure. Tsunayoshi also had _very _fluffy gravity defying hair that matched his eyes.

All in all, Tsunayoshi Sawada was _cute. _Takeshi couldn't bear to look at him anymore; his checks were flaring up with heat.

Takeshi jumped back from Tsunayoshi, almost hitting the clerk behind him, and excused himself from the store. He pulled the hood of his coat over his head, shadowing his face and hiding the blush on his cheeks as he hurried out of the mall and towards his home, his steps not as careful as his trip here. Suddenly, his foot found a patch of ice, causing him to trip. He angled his body and fell into the snow next to the sidewalk.

He stayed there for a while, his body heat slowly being sucked out of him and instead replaced with the bitter cold of winter. He attempted to gather his thoughts, his mind slowly wondering to that cute, clumsy employee.

"Tsunayoshi Sawada."

Takeshi liked how easily the name rolled off his tongue.

* * *

When Takeshi returned home empty-handed, he had a hard time coming up with a reason why he hadn't bought any Christmas decorations. He ended up settling for _"I realized that we should both pick them out together" _but he was pretty sure he said it kind of weakly. Nevertheless, Tsuyoshi smiled at him and said they'd go shopping for decorations tomorrow; Takeshi agreed.

Later that night, as Takeshi was preparing for his bath, he noticed something was...imprinted onto his palm? _There was nothing on my palm this morning,_ he thought. Taking a closer look at it, he realized it was an image.

A soul image.

_He had touched his soul mate. _

Takeshi studied the image carefully, wondering exactly who he had touched. He was bumped into several times as he traveled around the mall, and so he prayed that the image would give him clues as to when, where, why, how—anything to tell him who it could be.

The image depicted a star wrapped in orange flames falling towards the blue silhouette of a Christmas tree.

"It's...beautiful." He stated as he gazed at his palm curiously. "Confusing but beautiful."

At the mention of beauty, Takeshi remembered one more person he touched that day, and he couldn't help flush as he realized that Tsunayoshi Sawada, the cute, clumsy employee at that Christmas shop, was his soul mate.

He was definitely keeping an eye out for the cute little tuna tomorrow.

* * *

Takeshi and his father made their way to the mall the next day, driving down the cleared road. Once their car was parked and they were inside the mall, Takeshi made a beeline for the Clam Christmas Shop, hoping to catch Tsuna-as he called him in his head-before he left for any reason. What he saw when he got there, however, shocked him greatly.

Where the Christmas shop once stood, there was an empty building with a sign that read, "Open for leasing."

Takeshi stared.

"Son, I'm not like I used to be!" Tsuyoshi exclaimed as he slowly jogged up next to Takeshi. "You can't just run off like a kid." He said in between gulping for air.

"There was a Christmas shop here yesterday." Takeshi stated.

Tsuyoshi looked at the vacant building. "Son, I hate to break it to you, but this place looks like it's been deserted for weeks—months even."

Takeshi shook his head and looked down at his palm. "I met my soul mate here, Pops. This was a shop yesterday—my soul image proves it." He pulled his glove off and showed the image imprinted on his hand to his father. "I rescued Tsuna from a bunch of falling ornaments."

Tsuyoshi, shocked that his son found his soul mate at the age of sixteen, stared intently at Takeshi's image. "I can't believe it... Most find their soul mate around twenty-five, and that's after traveling around the world." He looked at his son and smiled warmly. "I'm sure fate will bring you and this Tsuna together once more, when the time is right."

Takeshi nodded. "I'm sure you're right, Pops! Now, let's find some Christmas decorations!"

"Yes, let's!"

* * *

The Yamamotos celebrated a wonderful Christmas together, along with some of Takeshi's baseball teammates and other family friends. It was their first celebration in a _long _time, and honestly, the two Yamamoto males had the time of their lives. Tsuyoshi had several people to cook for and received several compliments in return; Takeshi had a blast chatting it up with his teammates, who he hadn't seen since the start of winter break. It was a great Christmas.

When it was time to return to school, Takeshi was slightly down. It was time for class changes, and he didn't like the idea of moving out of his current class where most of his teammates were, but he had no choice. As he approached school, he noticed that the class changes were already posted. He glanced them over, looking solely for his own name, until another name caught his eye.

_Tsunayoshi Sawada: 2-A _

Takeshi was shocked that Tsuna went to his school—he had never heard of him before. Now knowing that there was a chance to be in the same class as his soul mate, he quickly searched for his name in anticipation. Finally, he found it.

_Takeshi Yamamoto: 2-A _

He jumped for joy, not caring about any others in his class before rushing towards the school building. After almost forgetting to exchange his outdoor shoes for his indoor shoes, he ran up the stairs and straight into the classroom labeled 2-A, calling out, "Tsuna!"

A brunet in the back of the room snapped his head up off of his desk, his chocolate eyes meeting Takeshi's amber eyes. Tsuna flushed horribly when he was the raven and bolted for the back exit of the classroom. Takeshi, stunned for a split second, chased after him. The chase continued for several minutes; those who caught a glimpse of them wondered exactly why they were running and if the school perfect was going to stop them.

The chase finally ended when the two came out onto the school roof. Both teens were out of breath, Tsuna worse than Takeshi, and they both collapsed next to each other on the concrete.

"Why... did you run?" Takeshi asked in between breaths.

Tsuna took a few deep breaths before responding, "Because I was... afraid to see you."

"Afraid?" Takeshi was puzzled. "Why were you afraid?"

Unbeknownst to Takeshi, whose gaze was focused on the sky, Tsuna blushed horribly. "When you first came into the shop, I saw you from the back. You were just so...handsome that I couldn't get you out of my mind. When you spoke to me, I was stunned—your voice was amazing. I knew someone like me shouldn't be near you, and so I refused your help. When you protected me and I felt that burning sensation on my neck, I knew that it was a mistake."

"A mistake?" Takeshi turned his head to face Tsuna. "Why do you think it was a mistake?"

"Someone like you shouldn't be bound to someone like me..."

Takeshi had heard enough. He sat up and then quickly pounced on the unsuspecting Tsuna, straddling him similarly to what had happened in the shop. While the raven was sure that there was a small blush on his cheeks from his actions, Tsuna's cheeks were tomato red.

"Wh-wh-what are you d-d-doing?!" The brunet squeaked.

Takeshi smiled. "I'm proving you wrong." He leaned closer to the brunet. As he inched closer, he whispered in a slightly husky voice, "Who is to say we don't belong together? We've only just met; we have all the time in the world to learn about one another. So," He stopped half an inch away from Tsuna's lips. "I'm Takeshi Yamamoto." He closed the distance, meeting Tsuna's lips with his own.

Tsuna closed his eyes and moaned into Takeshi's mouth as the raven slipped his hand under the back of Tsuna's shirt, his cold hand ghosting touches on the warm skin of Tsuna's arched back. The smaller brunet wrapped his arms around Takeshi's back and pulled the taller closer, relishing in the pleasure that he was feeling.

This continued for a few moments until the two realized they needed air. Takeshi pulled back, a warm smile on his face as he looked into Tsuna's eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi Sawada."

* * *

**A/NHaha, I think this is my first challenge and I was so hyped to write this, you just don't understand. I've always wanted to write a fic for this pairing, but I can never actually brainstorm any good ideas. I'm hoping that I've fulfilled the challenge!**

**About the last 2/3 of this was written on my phone, so I attempted to go back and fix some of the things that my phone messed up. I apologize if I missed a bunch of them—this hasn't been beta'd yet.**

**Anyway, happy holidays!**


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